Economic Development

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If you are looking to establish a new business or industry the Wattle Range Council is the place for you.

Wattle Range Council is situated mid way between the capital cities of Adelaide and Melbourne in the highly productive Limestone Coast region of South Australia and boast a diverse economic base, including viticulture and wineries, horticultural production and processing, timber production and processing, pulp & paper manufacture, floriculture, fishing and aquaculture, livestock production and cropping & seed production.

Grants

Find Australian Government grants and assistance for individuals, businesses and communities.

State/territory government and related Australian Government links are listed at the bottom of the page. A variety of grants are available by accessing the following links:-

Current Economic Development Projects

On 23 October 2013 Chinese company Qingao Gather Great Ocean Group (QGO) signed a contract to purchase local company Australian Kelp Products (AKP) which holds a licence to harvest seaweed at Beachport. As part of the purchase AKP’s licence will be transferred to QCO.

QGO is a high-technology seaweed processing business with its headquarters based in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China. The company was established in 2000 and its products, which are used in the printing, food and pharmaceutical industries, are exported to over 30 countries around the world.

QGO plans to invest $21 million over the next three years in Millicent and Beachport on plant and equipment and the company aims to ultimately employ 200 people across the two sites. Harvesting of the seaweed will occur at Beachport and it will then be transferred to the former cellulose site at Snuggery for processing.

QGO has also announced research collaborations with Flinders University which will involve joint algae bio refinery laboratories in South Australia and at the QGO headquarters in Qingdao.

The joint laboratory confirmed QGO’s commitment of $450,000 over three years into the development of new products, new technology and enhanced research talents for QGO and Flinders University, with the ultimate aim of supporting QGO’s commercial ventures in South Australia.